US30, Ravenscrag Butte flora (Paleocene of Canada)

Where: Saskatchewan, Canada (49.5° N, 109.0° W: paleocoordinates 55.6° N, 85.6° W)

• coordinate stated in text

When: Ravenscrag Formation, Paleocene (66.0 - 56.0 Ma)

• The stratigraphic position of the collection is given relative to the No. 1 coal zone, which is approximately at the base of the formation. US30 is located 10 m above the base of the No. 1 coal zone, east of US5 (west face).

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; shale

• During the early Tertiary, most of southern Saskatchewan was a broad alluvial plain dominated by meandering river systems. Locally, at the Ravenscrag Butte site, small lakes or ponds, sluggish streams, swamps and lowland forests successively dominated the area over a period of perhaps 2 million years.
• The Ravenscrag Formation consists of interbedded, nonmarine clays, silts, sands, and lignite. The measured section at the Ravenscrag Butte site is about 67 m thick, and lithologically, the formation in divided into two facies; the lower 38 metres comprises the grey facies, the upper 29 metres, the buff facies. At a distance, the two facies are easily distinguishable on the basis of colour. Commonly, the buff facies are less than 31 m thick in measured sections due to erosion or cover at the top. There are four conspicuous beds of coal or coaly shale in the sections at Ravenscrag Butte, including the No. 1 coal zone. The fourth coal zone marks the transition from grey to buff facies. Locality 30 is composed of grey and buff shales and sands.

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: adpression

Collection methods: salvage, surface (in situ),

Primary reference: E. E. McIver and J. F. Basinger. 1993. Flora of the Ravenscrag Formation (Paleocene), Southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. Palaeontographica Canadiana 10:1-85 [R. Lupia/B. Wilborn/B. Wilborn]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 34420: authorized by Rick Lupia, entered by Brooke Wilborn on 31.08.2003

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
unclassified
  -
Plantae "moss", Plantae "Unidentified fern 1", Plantae "Unidentified monocot leaf 1", Plantae "Unidentifed leaf 1", Plantae "roots"
Plantae "moss" Haeckel 1866
moss gametophyte
Plantae "roots" Haeckel 1866
Polypodiopsida
  - Blechnaceae
Woodwardia gravida
Woodwardia gravida Hickey 1977
 Polypodiales - Polypodiidae
Onoclea hesperia
Onoclea hesperia Hickey 1977
Magnoliopsida
  -
Dicotylophyllum anomalum, "Trapago angulata" = Quereuxia
"Trapago angulata" = Quereuxia
Trapago angulata comb. nov.
Angiospermae
 Cornales - Cornaceae
Cornophyllum newberryi
Cornophyllum newberryi
Cornophyllum newberryi comb. nov.
 Dipsacales - Caprifoliaceae
Viburnum sp.
Viburnum sp. Linnaeus 1753 honeysuckle
fruits
 Mesangiosperms - Araceae
Pistia corrugata
Pistia corrugata Lesquereux 1874 water cabbage
 Rosales - Rosaceae
Prunites maclearnii, Amelanchites similis
Prunites maclearnii rose
Prunites maclearnii comb. nov.
Amelanchites similis Newberry 1868 rose
Amelanchites similis comb. nov.
 Nymphaeales - Nymphaeaceae
Paranymphaea crassifolia
Paranymphaea crassifolia Newberry 1935 water lily
Gastropoda
 Stylommatophora - Subulinidae
Fortuna marsilioides
Fortuna marsilioides slug
Fortuna marsilioides comb. nov.